1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a monitoring device, a monitoring system, and a monitoring method where output moving images, where a person area which is detected from captured moving images in a monitoring area is changed to a mask image, are generated and output.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a store such as a convenience store, a monitoring system where cameras which capture the inside of the store are installed and people inside the store are monitored using moving images from the cameras has become widespread, but in a case where captured moving images are used with an object other than the object of monitoring, that is, marketing analysis or service improvement, it is necessary to protect customer privacy.
With respect to the demand to protect customer privacy, in the related art a technique is known where a person area in a moving image which is captured using a camera is changed to a specific mask image and displayed (refer to Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2013-186838 and Japanese Patent No. 5159381). In particular, in the technique which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2013-186838, it is easy to ascertain physical movement of people by displaying characteristic points on the mask image. In the technique which is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 5159381, it is easy to ascertain the behavior of people with respect to the background by setting the transparency of the mask image.
Regarding ascertaining behavior of people from moving images, people are viewed while distinguishing people from the background, but in the manner of techniques in the related art, an advantage is obtainable where it becomes easy to ascertain behavior of a person since when setting such that a person area is changed to a specific mask image and displayed, since it is possible to easily identify the background and people in addition to protecting customer privacy.
However, in a state where a plurality of people overlap when viewed from a camera, a person area which is detected from moving images is configured by a plurality of people, that is, a state is detected where the image area of the plurality of people is continuous, in such a case, there is a problem in that just from viewing the mask image it is not possible to simply determine the state of people from the mask image without being certain whether there is only one person or if there is a plurality of people, and in particular, there is a problem in that a burden on a user becomes large in a case where the moving images span a long period of time, and a technique is desired where it is possible to effectively perform work where the behavior of people is ascertained.